


The Prince's Rescue

by zubeneschamali



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Dragons, Knight!Jared, M/M, prince!Jensen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:08:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27750535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zubeneschamali/pseuds/zubeneschamali
Summary: From a prompt at spn_masquerade: Jensen is a prince locked in a tower, and whoever rescues him shall win his hand in marriage. He's guarded by vines, poison filled moats, dragons, and more—but he set up the defenses himself because he didn't want to be a pawn in a political marriage. But when knight!Jared shows up, Jensen might have to rethink his stance...
Relationships: Jensen Ackles/Jared Padalecki
Comments: 28
Kudos: 234





	The Prince's Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> Did I mention ashtray_thief was evil and deliberately left prompts to lure me into writing them? Did I mention how much I loved those prompts, especially this one?

Jensen leans on his forearms and strains to see out of the window. It's been a few months since someone tried to approach his tower, and he's been able to get a lot of reading done in the meantime. Now there's a knight drawing up his horse at the far side of the moat, which means he already made it through the bramble fences. Jensen reaches for the spyglass on the shelf and trains it in his direction. 

"Damn," he mutters when he sees how tall the guy is. Then he takes off his helmet, and Jensen blinks, stunned. Hot, too. He hopes this one has the sense to turn back before things get too dangerous. He'd hate to see that tall body damaged too badly.

He watches as the knight paces back and forth along the edge of the moat, occasionally patting his horse. The horse has probably sensed the alligators, given the way it's shifting around nervously. Yes, Jensen's tower has an outer moat around it with actual alligators, and yes, it might be a little over the top, but you can't go wrong with the classics, right? At least a third of Jensen's suitors have turned back at this point, and it's always fun to watch the rest try and come up with something.

Like this guy. He's digging into his saddlebags before swinging a smaller pack up on his back. He leads the horse away a short distance and ties it to a tree. To Jensen's surprise, he removes his armor, leaving him in a brown doublet and hose that show off some very nice legs. Then he comes back, unwraps a brown paper parcel, and waits until the nearest alligator notices him before tossing the contents of the parcel into the moat.

It must be a piece of meat, given how the 'gator snaps it up. Jensen watches idly, wondering if the guy's pack could possibly hold enough meat to satiate all of the alligators filling the moat, and how long this is going to take. 

But no. The ridiculously tall knight backs up to where his horse is, then takes off at a dead run and leaps down _into_ the moat, landing on the alligator's broad back and using it to launch himself back up into the air. He scrambles for the bank on the far side and rolls up onto the grass right as the alligator lunges for him. Apparently the meat only kept him occupied for so long, but it was enough.

Jensen finds himself smiling as he lowers his spyglass. That was actually pretty clever. If he makes it past the dragon, Jensen will go have some lunch while he tries to get past the acid-filled inner moat.

Two hourglass turns later, Jensen's back from lunch and shocked to find that the knight is at the bottom of the tower. Jensen doesn't need the spyglass anymore. He cranes his head to look out—might as well let the guy see what he's aiming for.

The knight looks up and grins when he sees Jensen. It's a flash of white teeth in a tanned face, nothing more, but it feels like the sun suddenly came out. Jensen finds himself suddenly hoping this guy can figure out how to climb the tower, and that's not something that's happened before.

"Hello!" the knight calls out, giving a big wave as if Jensen couldn't already see him.

"Hello!" Jensen calls back.

"Are you okay up there?" He actually looks concerned, which is kind of sweet.

"I'm fine."

"Okay. Um, I don't suppose you have a rope or a ladder or something?"

Jensen exaggeratedly shakes his head. "I can't do that."

"Yeah, I expected that." The knight shoots him another quick smile. "Don't worry, I'll figure it out."

He watches as the knight walks off to his left, going around the tower to check it out. Jensen has windows on every side, but he has to climb down the stairs to get to some of them. The door at the bottom is invisible from the outside, and he wonders what the knight is going to come up with.

Of course, he could also go down those stairs and let this guy in, but he's come this far. Maybe he can actually go all the way.

When the knight returns, Jensen shouts, "What's your name?"

"Sir Jared of Padaleck," he calls back. "You're Prince Jensen, right?"

"That's right."

"Good." Another flash of teeth. "Wouldn't want to be rescuing the wrong guy." 

Jensen bristles at the idea that he needs _rescuing_ , but Sir Jared is already studying the wall in front of him. He puts his hands up to it, touching the surface, and even from here Jensen can see how long his fingers are.

Sir Jared sets his hands against the stone of the tower and looks up. "Can you tell me something?"

"Maybe."

"Is this the last test? If I can climb the tower, are there more dangers to face inside? Or is this the last challenge?"

Jensen bites his lip as he thinks about how to answer. "There's nothing that can harm you up here."

"Okay. Good." Sir Jared shrugs off his pack and unbuckles his swordbelt, laying it carefully down on the grass. Then he looks up at the uneven tower wall with determination, gets a firm grip on the stone, and starts to climb.

_Stars_ , Jensen realizes. _He's going to free climb a tower five times his height._

He suddenly feels afraid, and that's something he's never felt before while watching someone try to get to his tower. Men have fallen before in this last stage, but never from very far up. The rate at which Sir Jared is climbing suggests that he's going to be above a safe height before very long, and that makes Jensen nervous. He digs around until he finds the coil of rope he keeps in case of an emergency and puts it at his feet, just in case.

Sir Jared's long fingers keep getting a steady grip on the rough stone, and his long boots are somehow able to find purchase. He's not looking up or down or sideways, only at the stone in front of him. His pace is slowing a little, but he's at least halfway up now, well above the height where a fall would hurt only his pride.

Jensen draws back for a moment, not sure that he can watch. Then he sets his jaw and leans forward again. If this man is putting himself in this much danger to do what he thinks is a rescue, the least Jensen can do is watch him. 

There's a window just over halfway up, and Sir Jared takes a moment to rest once his feet are securely on the sill. He bends down to peer in the window and then looks up at Jensen, now from only three meters below. "There's stairs? Really?"

Jensen shrugs, trying to look as helpless as he can.

Sir Jared's narrowed eyes suggest he doesn't quite believe it, but there's not much he can do about it now. He takes a deep breath, his broad chest glistening above the laces of his doublet. Then he starts climbing again.

He's going more slowly, taking his time to choose his handholds. But it's still only a couple of minutes before his hair is up to the bottom of Jensen's window, and then his hands are grasping at the sill. He's peering up at Jensen, looking so hopeful that Jensen can't resist. He offers a hand to Sir Jared, and the two of them manage to get him up over the sill and safely into the tower.

Sir Jared collapses onto the floor, breathing heavily. Jensen leans back against the wall, feeling how fast his own heart is thumping. There's silence for a moment as their breaths slow, and Jensen gets a strange, fluttering feeling in his stomach at the intimacy of the moment.

When he looks at Sir Jared, the knight is looking back at him, and the intensity of his gaze only increases that fluttering. Eyes never leaving Jensen's, he slowly stands up, and when Jensen realizes how much taller he is and how broad his shoulders are, he _really_ hopes this guy's here for the right reasons.

Then, to his surprise, Sir Jared blinks and steps back, looking Jensen up and down. "Wow. I knew…I mean, the stories said…but _wow_."

Jensen frowns. "What stories?"

"Um." The knight looks around the room as if to catch his bearings. His sharp eyes take in the rows and rows of books lining the walls, the fire in the hearth, and linger for a moment on the bed pushed up against the far wall. Then he turns back to Jensen. "The ones about why there's a prince trapped in a tower who needs the bravest knight in all the land to rescue him. Not that I am. The bravest, I mean. But here I am."

"Here you are," Jensen echoes.

"Yeah. And you're even more beautiful than the stories said." Before Jensen can figure out how to reply to that, Sir Jared blushes. "I'm sorry. That's not—look, are you okay? Can we get out of here? Is there a door at the bottom of the stairs so we don't have to free-climb down?"

"Don't you want to claim your prize first?" Jensen asks with a raised eyebrow.

Sir Jared's forehead wrinkles. "My what?"

Jensen doesn't say a word, just nods towards the bed.

It takes a moment, but then Sir Jared's eyes widen. "No! I mean, not that you aren't very attractive, my lord, but you're not a _prize_. I'm not—I would never demand that of someone."

Jensen feels the tension in his shoulders loosen, and he gives Jared a short nod.

"I mean, I didn't come here to bed you, I came to rescue you." Jared glances across the room at the stairwell leading downwards, and then his gaze catches on the coil of rope at Jensen's feet. When he looks up at Jensen, his tone is more rueful. "But I guess you don't need rescuing, do you?"

Jensen expects him to be angry with all the effort he's exerted for nothing, or to demand that Jensen give him something in compensation after all. But he looks relieved more than anything else, like he's been worried about Jensen this whole time, and now he knows he doesn't have to be.

So before he knows it, Jensen is opening his mouth and saying, "I built this tower."

Jared tilts his head to the side as if to say, _Go on_.

Jensen folds his arms over his chest. "My father kept trying to marry me off for political reasons. And it was always to a real dick, you know?"

There's a faint snort from Jared's direction, but his face is admirably expressionless.

"So I decided to make my own choice. I wanted someone who was strong—not just able to climb a tower, but strong enough to persevere through multiple challenges. Someone who was smart, who could look at a moat filled with alligators and try something no one's ever tried before."

Jared's cheeks are faintly pink. "My legs aren't quite long enough to jump all the way across, but with a running start and a distracted stepping stone, I figured I could do it."

"Someone who was kind and gentle." Jensen raises an eyebrow. "Every time someone's tried to get in here, they've drawn their sword as soon as they've seen my dragon, even if he's only waist-high. You fed him raw meat and held out the back of your hand like he was a dog."

"I told it it was really just a sweet puppy who was also a guard dog, and it was about to breathe fire at me. So I told it was ferocious and mean and a good protector, and it rolled over and let me scratch its belly scales." Jared looks at him more sharply. "Wait. You said 'he.' You said _your_ dragon."

Jensen reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. "His name is Oscar. He's kind of my pet. As much as dragons will agree to be pets."

"Wow, that's awesome!" Jared beams.

Jensen finds himself smiling back. "Yeah, he's great." He takes a deep breath and goes on, "But it's not just about being smart and strong. It's also—Look, I spent so many years being an object to be fought for and negotiated over. If anyone was able to find their way to me, they also had to see me as a _person_. And you did."

There's silence in the tower. Then, slowly, Jared takes a step forward. "What are you saying, my prince?"

"Jensen," he says quickly. "Just call me Jensen."

"All right." Jared takes another step, so he's right in front of him. "Jensen. I think you're brilliant. And beautiful. And if I understand what you're saying, I think there's another test that needs to be passed."

"What's tha—"

Jared's mouth is on his, firm and warm, his long fingers wrapped around Jensen's biceps. Jensen inhales sharply at the sensation, and Jared jerks back, eyes going wide. "Oh God, I'm so sorry, I just did that without asking, I shouldn't—"

"Shhh." Jensen lays a finger over Jared's lips, then moves it away with a light stroke. A high whimper escapes Jared's throat, and then Jensen is leaning into him, sliding both hands into his hair and angling his head so their mouths meet perfectly. 

Jared is just as good at kissing as he is at climbing and jumping and charming dragons. Jensen hopes his knight doesn't need to be anywhere soon, because he's suddenly not planning on leaving his tower for a very long time. 

Even now that he's been rescued.


End file.
